It was barely past 3pm when Brittany rushed through the door of her house. That day was the first she had ever made it back home so early after school. Her house was small with a single room. Her kitchen was only a few steps away, and her bathroom was behind a ragged piece of curtain.
This place was where she'd been living after the woman taking care of her died. It was secluded from the rest of the pack, lying near the border.
She slammed the door shut and pressed her back against it, breathing hard. She struggled to catch her breath.
Everything took such a devastating turn in the span of an hour. Luckily, Nate hadn't followed her but something told her this wasn't over. She definitely wasn't going anywhere tomorrow or any time soon, not to the pack house and certainly not to training school. Her Alpha wouldn't care anyway since it wasn't mandatory to attend, well at least not for her. She'd stay locked up in the house until even her friends forgot this day ever existed.
For lying like that and grinning about it, Nathan was a lunatic…confirmed.
Rubbing her chest, Brit dragged her aching feet across the floor, flopping down on the thin mattress in the corner. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and quickly went ahead to text Miles before anyone else.
---'That was pretty intense, huh? I'm still trying to wrap my head around everything but I have no idea why he lied like that. We're not mates obviously'---
She waited nervously for a response while nibbling on her bottom lip. But after minutes passed and no reply, she forwarded the message to Sophia then slammed the phone on the nightstand, squeezing her eyes closed.
She felt stressed and hungry, but she doubted there was anything in the house to eat other than bread. Before her brain could explode, she was going to sleep everything away. And hopefully, whenever she woke up, all this would be nothing more than a crazy dream.
-
-
Brittany's eyes fluttered open and the first thing she saw was her blurry reflection in the mirror across the room. Forehead creasing, she lifted her head, only for it fall back against the pillow, throbbing. Her whole body felt heavy and she was slightly dizzy. How long had she been asleep?
"Are you awake?"
She felt her whole face drain of color. That voice…had most definitely come from under her. She forced her head up and stared downward, meeting a pair of dark, scary amber eyes. Her heart thumped ten times faster when she realized that the pillow under her was actually a man…Nathan to be exact.
His body was unmoving as he laid there, hair all over the place and his big eyes glued to her. She had never seen him up close and without his hoody. With his defined jawline, brows trimmed and light freckles across his nose, he looked like a completely different person. But it wasn't hard to tell that it was him. His eyes were always the same.
Her body moved quickly, rushing to get away from the obvious intruder. But her legs gave out immediately and she tumbled to the floor, slamming down hard. She cradled her aching arm on her chest, her back pressing against the wall.
"N-Nathan? W-Why are y--" Her words got stuck in her throat when her eyes picked up on the blur of unrecognized things surrounding her…huge bed, chandelier, furniture she could never own. Whatever room she was in, was actually not hers.
Her clothes had changed too. Instead of her own, she had been put into some kind of long white gown. As she looked down at herself, her eyes locked in on the chains trailing down the front of her dress and across the sparkly clean floor.
Now, she was nearly on the brink of having a heart attack.
How could she have possibly expected to be kidnapped in her sleep?
Her hands trembled as she brought them up. Her fingers drifted along the chains and to the collar that was clasped loosely around her neck. Her lips wobbled.
She had no idea what Nathan had done to her nor where he had brought and chained her, but she hoped and prayed that they were nowhere near his father's pack lands.
"Your weight is concerning." Nathan sat up and set his feet on the floor. He stood to his full height and pulled up the sleeves of his dress shirt, walking towards her. "You are as light as a feather."
She squeezed her eyes shut. "T-This isn't h-happening…This isn't happening. This isn't happening!" She mumbled the words repeatedly, then hesitantly re-opened her eyes. But to her utter dismay, everything remained the same. Nothing had changed. It was not a dream.
Brittany pulled her legs up to her chest, her eyes darting between Nathan and the wooden door to her right. "Why…Why are you doing this to me?!"
"I assume it must have been overwhelming for you back there." He drifted closer and Brit plastered herself against the wall.
"Now that we are alone…there is no need to be scared. After all…" He stooped in front of her and for the second time since she knew him, his lips slipped into a lopsided grin. He held her gaze and finished, "…we are fated mates."
Brittany felt her gut twist. Did he not know what a fated mate was? How could she tell him without him getting upset and ripping her to shreds?
"We…" Her eyes darted to the floor, arms tightening around her knees. "…are not mates. I…You m-must really have the wrong idea. Please…Please let me go…" She squeaked. Her throat felt dry and her lips were slowly becoming very hard to open. The last of her strength was waning too and she had no idea why it was happening. "…Leave me alone..."
Her words were met with silence.
Brittany took the risk to raise her eyes when she didn't hear a reply, only to find that his face had hardened and his grin was gone. His gaze sunk into her soul as he raised a hand. Brittany was sure he would hit her, but his palm pressed to her forehead instead. "You are heating up a bit. How are you feeling? You aren't too dizzy, are you?"
She pushed his hand away or at least tried to. The strength in her arms could only nudge him at best. "D-Don't…touch me."
"I will need to touch you if we are to complete our ceremony. You can't walk on your own. Now, be good." His fingers slipped into her hair, combing through the strands gently. "Our scents have mixed inside this room, can you smell it?" He pushed her hair behind her ear and just when she thought he'd finally remove his hands off her, his fingers slowly slid down to her neck, grazing the flesh lightly. A shiver ran through her. "I have been enjoying it so much that it was hard holding back~"